NBA 2K16 is one of the best sports video games to have come out in the last decade.

It is not easy to hand out claims of greatness when a game has only been out a few months. College Hoops 2K8 wasn't given legendary status until people were still playing it years after its release. NBA 2K16 won't have the "benefit" of being the last game in the series, so there's no real reason to keep playing it long after its release, but it's sure to be the title that all future sports games can be measured by.

Visual Concepts has the luxury of tinkering instead of overhauling. This is the same reason MLB: The Show has had such a great run (that's arguably still going) over the course of its PS3 years. It found greatness in its core and just nudged it in a better direction. The difference here is that Visual Concepts has identified its weak spots (Association modes and MyPlayer modes) -- which, to be fair, have been weak spots for the entire genre -- and gambled with new ideas. MyPlayer may not have been an overwhelming success with fans, but it was something new and risky.

NBA 2K16 is the first sports title in a while that has made defense relevant and fun. I very distinctly recall one of my very first games with 2K16 in which I unwisely matched myself up against the Golden State Warriors with the San Antonio Spurs. Like many less skilled players, I tend to stick to one defender and let the CPU handle the rest.

In this game, Leonard was matched up against Curry and there was this beautiful moment where Draymond Green stepped in for a sizable pick on Leonard. But since Leonard is arguably the top defender in the NBA, he slipped around the pick and got a hand in Curry's face; Curry missed the shot. A similar sequence occurred minutes later, only this time, it was Danny Green defending Curry. In this instance, there wasn't a hand in Curry's face. The shot went in.

 

 

Of course this is just a simple example of an otherwise complex system that makes NBA 2K16 tick. The Adaptive Coaching Engine is something the sports genre has needed since its birth, providing players with their first fair fight from the CPU. As someone who gets by with out-coaching the CPU, I've struggled mightily to balance my game plan as the CPU adjusts. It really is a thing of beauty watching a hole in the defense that has been there all game slowly close up as the CPU makes changes.

Visual Concepts has done a fantastic job of giving its audience the things it wants. Speedy patch delivery (with its fourth patch already along the way) and changes that only help the game (for the most part) is a nice change of pace from a developer that could have easily let the success get to their heads.

Online support has also been steady in its delivery, with servers holding up relatively well. There is little to doubt about Visual Concepts' post-release handling of NBA 2K16, and there's little reason to think that will change until NBA 2K17 is already well underway.

The game has only gotten better since its release, especially since the monster third patch that rectified a number of smaller issues with the game. Gameplay is smoother and some of the smaller annoyances are all but gone. NBA 2K16 is a game that started with only a few problems and now has even fewer. It is a game that, unbelievably so, gets better just about every time you sit down to play it.